


The Frozen Lake

by junailens



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Ice Skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 09:44:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16720986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junailens/pseuds/junailens
Summary: Tomoe takes Rinko ice skating for the first time.





	The Frozen Lake

Rinko did not like sports.

She felt that it should be reasonable enough for anyone who looked at her to guess that athletics was not her strong suit. And she was okay with it. She had other talents.

Her girlfriend was not as okay with it.

“You’ve never been ice skating?!” She slammed her drink down in dismay, making Rinko jump. Tomoe hastily muttered an apology, but still looked surprised. “Like, not even as a kid, in an ice rink?” Rinko shook her head.

Tomoe looked so shocked, Rinko felt bad. “Sorry… I never learned how.”

“Hey,” Tomoe leaned over and gave her shoulders a squeeze, “it’s not your fault,” she said absentmindedly, at the same time she pulled out her phone with her other hand. She tapped for a minute, then seemed to remember that Rinko was sitting right in front of her. “What shoe size do you wear?”

Rinko only stared.

* * *

 

Tomoe, upon confirming that her mom 1) owned ice skates and 2) wore almost the same shoe size as Rinko, made prompt plans for them to go ice skating the following morning.

Rinko’s alarm buzzed, and she felt around for her phone, moving as little as possible out of the warmth of her blankets. When she at last hit it, she grabbed it and pulled it under the covers with her, letting out the tension in her shoulders as she silenced the alarm. Cautiously opening one eye to squint at the screen, she checked the weather. Cold. She couldn’t believe Tomoe was willingly waking up to go outside today, considering how she was far less a fan of cold weather than Rinko.

Nevertheless, she had a text waiting fromTomoe.

_Morning rinko! Can’t wait to see you, it’s gonna be a lot of fun :D_

Rinko couldn’t help a smile growing on her face; she closed her eyes again and hugged her phone to her chest. No matter how cold it was, Tomoe always had such a warmth about her that seemed to envelop RInko, protecting her from the cold and scary things the world held. Just being near her was enough to make anyone feel safer. Knowing that she would be able to feel that presence was the only thing that pushed Rinko to get dressed and head out.

Walking down the empty, Saturday morning street, Rinko held her gloved hands over her face, warming them with her breath. She worried about what was ahead. Tomoe had told her not to bring anything, since she would take the skates, but that just left Rinko feeling more anxious, since there was nothing for her to prepare.

The walk to her house was hardly unfamiliar, but there had been a light dusting of powdery snow overnight that lent a dreamy feeling to it. Rinko brought a hand to her face again, pulling up her scarf to hide a small smile. Although she was embarrassed to be excited over something as childish as a little snow, thinking back to how Tomoe and Ako acted at the first snow of the year reassured her that she wasn’t alone, and brought a much more amused smile to her face. She remembered the pure joy with which Tomoe and Ako had chased each other, throwing what were less ‘snowballs’ and more loose handfuls of hastily gathered snow at each other as fast as they could, yelling and laughing as Rinko watched on and smiled from a safe distance. Still, even from far away, Rinko could feel the brightness of Tomoe’s smile. It stayed with her, the memory sparkling like the sun reflecting off the glittering snow. Rinko didn’t notice herself walking faster, wanting to see her smile again as soon as she could.

Once she was in front of her house, Tomoe came out of the door, holding a bag with their skates and calling good morning. She met Rinko on the sidewalk, giving her a hug which Rinko happily leaned into.

“Good morning,” Rinko greeted, smiling as Tomoe broke away.

Grinning back, Tomoe bounced on her toes a little as they started to walk. “I’m so excited to teach you how to skate. Thank you,” her smile turned a little more sheepish, “for agreeing to come so suddenly.” _I know you’re not good with surprises like this,_ is what she didn’t finish with.

Rinko glanced at her quickly before looking at the ground. “It’s okay… I’m excited, too.” She looked back at Tomoe, whe met her eyes with a reassuring smile. “Plus…” Rinko whispered, lowering her eyes to her shoulder, then back away to the ground. “Since… it’s you… I’ll be fine…” she fiddled with the buttons of her gloves and looked around, making sure no one else was on the street, and swallowed, taking Tomoe’s hand before she lost her nerve. When she looked at Tomoe, this time it was her not meeting Rinko’s eyes, but Rinko saw that she was blushing, even as she squeezed Rinko’s hand back. Rinko smiled and steadied her grip on her hand.

Tomoe led them through a few back streets, and Rinko looked around at the trees lining the road. The street she lived on was pretty empty so early in the morning, but this road was deserted. Rinko trusted Tomoe’s sense of direction, but she started to get nervous about where they were going. Tomoe must have sensed her getting restless, and she gave her hand a squeeze, rubbing her thumb on the back of her hand.

“It’s just a few minutes further. We go skating on this lake a lot, I promise it’s gonna be worth the trip,” she gave a thumbs up with her free hand. Sure enough, a minute later she pointed down a path through the woods around the road, and they walked down it for another minute before coming through the other side of the trees.

They ducked through a low-hanging branch at the end of the path, and Rinko gasped. Tomoe had said it would be worth the walk, but Rinko hadn’t been expecting this. Surrounded by evergreen trees, a lake stretched across the huge clearing. The trees and ground were all dusted with pristine white snow, and the frigid, thin winter air seemed to grow lively with the sound of the sun twinkling off the flat expanse of ice, making Rinko squint as her eyes registered to the brightness of the direct sunlight after being under the shade on the path.

Her eyes sparkled, and she turned back to look at Tomoe in awe. Tomoe smiled, setting down the bag and wrapping both her arms around Rinko properly, kissing her on the temple. She held the embrace as she leaned back up, and Rinko looked around again.

“I can’t believe there’s a place so beautiful so close to your house…” she breathed.

“It is, isn’t it,” Tomoe nodded, pulling Rinko close again and leaning her head on hers. “This place is pretty popular for skating, which is why I wanted to get here while it’s still empty.” Rinko’s heart fluttered, so she buried her face in Tomoe’s neck.

“You didn’t… have to…” She murmured as she thought about all the times Tomoe complained about waking up early.

If only she knew that Tomoe would have literally jumped out of bed at any hour to have this moment with her.

Tomoe held the embrace until Rinko pulled away, still feeling a little bit of misplaced shame, but Tomoe didn’t let her linger in it for long. She pulled out the skates for Rinko, holding her steady as she put them on and laced them up. She put on her own skates, and they walked to the edge of the lake, slowly, to not fall over. Tomoe looked at Rinko, who was staring at her feet.

“Don’t be nervous. It’s totally safe, even if you fall it doesn’t hurt that bad. Plus, I-I’ll catch you, so…” Tomoe patted Rinko’s shoulder.

“Won’t... the snow… make it harder to skate…?” Rinko again took to messing with the hem of her gloves. Tomoe shook her head.

“No, you won’t notice it. There’s not a lot, so it won’t get in the way at all.”

“And… you’re sure the ice is thick enough…?”

“Absolutely,” Tomoe confirmed with a grin. “Here, I’ll go out first and skate a little bit, to show you how, before you come out.” Rinko watched and tried to remember everything Tomoe said as she pushed off onto the ice. But she was in her element, and she made it look too easy, Rinko got nervous again.

Tomoe returned to where she stood, and took her hands. “I promise you can do it,” she said seriously, with a strong grip on her hands. “I’ll hold your hands the whole time, okay?” Rinko took a deep breath, then steeled herself and returned Tomoe’s grip, nodding.

Tomoe laughed happily, which made Rinko feel more at ease. Tomoe started to slowly walk backwards until they both stood on the ice, and then she started to pull Rinko along. To Rinko’s pleasant surprise, it was relatively easy to keep upright, as long as she stared at Tomoe and didn’t move or look around. Tomoe started very slowly, but as Rinko grew more comfortable, she started to skate faster. Both their hair blew slightly in the breeze, and Rinko giggled, meeting eyes with Tomoe, who grinned.

“Is it fun?” She asked. Rinko nodded quickly.

“Do you wanna try by yourself?”

Rinko paused, but nodded again. Tomoe gave her an encouraging smile, skating around to her side and holding just one hand, so Rinko could skate forward freely. She had been watching Tomoe skate all this time, but doing it herself was another challenge entirely. She held tight to Tomoe’s hand, and attempted to push herself forward. She immediately lost her balance, and Tomoe held her up from falling completely.

“S-sorry!” Rinko yelped, grabbing Tomoe’s arms as she righted herself.

“It’s okay. Try again?”

Rinko glanced up at her, then looked down, embarrassed. But, as it always was, Tomoe made her feel safe, and she couldn’t stay anxious around her for long. She planted her feet as Tomoe told her to, and once more pushed off. She moved painfully slowly, and wobbled more than she wanted to, but this time she made it a few paces before she lost her balance. Again, Tomoe caught her, but this time, Rinko looked up at her proudly, a small smile gracing her face.

“That was awesome, Rinko!” Tomoe yelled, helping her stand and then throwing her arms around her in a hug, making Rinko feel unsteady all over again and almost knocking them both down. Rinko blushed, but couldn’t help but smile at Tomoe’s praise.

“I… only made it a little bit…” she glanced to the side, tracing the lines their skates had made in the snow over the ice.

“Yeah, but you still did it! I’m so happy, I knew you could!” Tomoe grinned, hugging her with all her strength before stepping back and motioning for her to try again. Rinko felt so light, and as she pushed off again, she tried going faster than the snail’s pace she took before. She got into a groove, and they started to speed up until she really thought she was flying.

Rinko continued to stumble every once in awhile, but as promised, Tomoe caught her every time. As she grew more confident, she looked around as she skated, once again taking in the ethereal beauty of the snow-covered pines, and the beautiful sunlight warming her cheeks in the moments they slowed down, and the cold wind stopped. She looked then at Tomoe, who, in skating, seemed to hold a quiet, confident grace unlike Rinko had ever seen on her. She had her eyes closed, face turned up to the sun, and she glowed, radiant. The lake was certainly beautiful, but it was Tomoe who never ceased to take Rinko’s breath away in moments like this.

 _Thank you… for taking me here,_ she thought. Rinko prolonged her gaze at Tomoe, not needing to watch where she was going on the vast open ice. Tomoe, who had unexpectedly come into her cramped and static comfort zone and expanded it farther than Rinko ever thought possible. A year ago, Rinko never would have been able to do this. She hadn’t had anyone who would have invited her in the first place. She looked back at her skates, blinking hard.

“You good?” A minute later came that compassionate voice. Rinko gave her an assuring look, nodding and quickly wiping her eyes before looking back at her.

“I’m just… grateful to have you…” she said, making herself hold Tomoe’s eyes as she said it, but she looked away as soon as she was finished.

Tomoe slowed, pulling Rinko to a stop too. She pulled them together, and Rinko was slowly slid until she bumped into Tomoe. Wordlessly, she hugged Rinko, leaning down to lay her head on Rinko’s shoulder. Rinko froze for a moment, but she wasn’t even for a second uncomfortable. After a moment, she smiled serenely, wrapping her arms around Tomoe’s back.

“If you’re gonna kill me like that, you could at least warn me, ya’know,” Tomoe muttered into her neck, making Rinko flinch from the tickling of her lips moving. Rinko giggled, and patted Tomoe’s back, closing her eyes and relishing in the warmth of her strong embrace. They stayed like that until they heard children shrieking in the distance, and they jumped apart as a family came into the clearing.

Tomoe bit her lip, looking at Rinko as if to ask, “You wanna go?”

Rinko watched, smiling inwardly as the parents corralled the kids and tried to get them all into skates. She didn’t really want to stay now that others had joined them, but she looked at Tomoe, who had given her more than Rinko could ever measure, and even still would do anything she asked. Rinko shook her head.

“Let’s stay… I want to keep skating… with you,” she said, taking her hand again, and letting out a giggle as Tomoe’s eyes lit up. They started skating again, even though Rinko was far more self-conscious when she tripped in front of an audience, especially noticing that the little kids seemed to be slipping much less than herself. But she only had to look at the girl holding her hand to steady herself both physically and mentally.

As long as she was with Tomoe, Rinko could do anything.


End file.
